Thursday, December 31, 2009

There are times, when I wish that news publishers would add a bit more detail to thier stories. Things like why she falsely cried she was sexually assaulted, her name, her picture... just things that would help young men identify her so they can avoid being on the receiving end of a future false accusation.

There are times, when I wish that news publishers would add a bit more detail to thier stories. Things like why she falsely cried she was sexually assaulted, her name, her picture... just things that would help young men identify her so they can avoid being on the receiving end of a future false accusation.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

A woman has been accused of making sexual advances to teenage boys in a lurid news story that is sure to attract a lot of attention because of its provocative nature.

But her attorney says the allegations are false, the nasty result of a nasty custody battle.

We don't know what the truth is, but we know that just as a presumed innocent man should be afforded anonymity for alleged crimes of a sexual nature, so, too, should this woman. Why? Because she might be factually innocent, but now her good name has been destroyed, possibly forever. Even if the charges are dropped and even if the claims are found to be false, she likely will never again get a decent job. Her social relationships likely are destroyed beyond repair, too.

Yes, I know: false allegations happen to men far more than women. But that little fact doesn't really help a specific woman who happens to be on the receiving end of it, does it? If she was falsely accused, the two advantages that she'll have over a falsely accused man are: (1) if she is convicted, she'll serve far less prison time -- if any -- in all likelihood; and (2) the stigma won't be as severe -- but it'll be severe enough.

You see, this site is about victims of a certain kind of crime, not whether those victims have a Y-chromosome.

A woman has been accused of making sexual advances to teenage boys in a lurid news story that is sure to attract a lot of attention because of its provocative nature.

But her attorney says the allegations are false, the nasty result of a nasty custody battle.

We don't know what the truth is, but we know that just as a presumed innocent man should be afforded anonymity for alleged crimes of a sexual nature, so, too, should this woman. Why? Because she might be factually innocent, but now her good name has been destroyed, possibly forever. Even if the charges are dropped and even if the claims are found to be false, she likely will never again get a decent job. Her social relationships likely are destroyed beyond repair, too.

Yes, I know: false allegations happen to men far more than women. But that little fact doesn't really help a specific woman who happens to be on the receiving end of it, does it? If she was falsely accused, the two advantages that she'll have over a falsely accused man are: (1) if she is convicted, she'll serve far less prison time -- if any -- in all likelihood; and (2) the stigma won't be as severe -- but it'll be severe enough.

You see, this site is about victims of a certain kind of crime, not whether those victims have a Y-chromosome.

Few people write extensively about rape aside from (1) extreme feminists in the blogosphere, (2) sexual assault counslors whose livelihood depends on the perception that rape is at least common and more likely rampant, and (3) feminist scholars who have taken a personal interest in the issue. Nothing needs to be written about the first group since their take on rape is well-known, and few even attempt to do more than parrot information gleaned from the third group. The bias arising from the financial interest of members of the second group disqualifies them from offering anything useful to the public discourse about rape. The third group, comprised of feminist rape scholars, furnishes the intellectual firepower for the first and second groups, and it is that third group that dominates the public discourse on rape.

The scholars' world view, to varying degress, is that our social structure is patriarchal, marked by males dominating females, with sexist laws that promote said domination. Their take on rape is consistent with that world view. One scholar, Professor Aya Gruber has published an important article in the Washington Law Review titled "Rape, Feminism, and the War on Crime," 84 Wash. L. Rev. 581 (November 2009). It is interesting for a variety of reasons. Since our focus is false rape claims, it is that aspect of her article that we'll discuss.

We often stress on this site that the language one uses in the rape milieu is important. It not only provides a window into the soul of the writer, but it dictates what casual readers learn from the writing. At the end of this post is an excerpt from Professor Gruber's article, found on pages 595-600 of her article, and I urge readers to look at the langauge she uses.

The article attempts to fairly marshall objective information about our current knowledge of the prevalence of false rape claims. Prof. Gruber properly states that "the statistics on false rape accusation widely vary" and she notes that "'as a scientific matter, the frequency of false rape complaints to police or other legal authorities remains unknown.. . . .'" To her credit, she cites Mr. Greer's and Prof. Kanin's work in footnotes, also excerpted below.

Despite this, Prof. Gruber encrusts her scholarship with the conclusory language of the feminist movement that insists the image of rape accuser as "vindictive shrew" is a myth.

________________________________

I certainly can't make the blanket statement that rape accusers are "vindictive shrews." But asserting that it as a "myth" and leaving it at that is inaccurate because of what it omits, and because of what it suggests.

First, repeating this alleged myth is at least unnecessary and possibly disingenuous. Its underlying premise is that rape accusers are, to this day, viewed as dishonest or untrustworthy. While that might have been true in the past, my extensive review of rape cases, and especially cases where rape claims are eventually found to be false, suggests that it is no longer true. Rape accusers are afforded instant credibility by the police, the news media, and the general public. The fact that juries might have doubts about uncorroborated claims speaks more to the burden of proof and the evidence of particular cases.

Case after case, illustrated on this website, underscore the destructive power of even far-fetched rape accusations unsupported by other evidence. The extreme reputational and other harm to countless men and boys from even disingenuous rape claims attests to the instant credibility afforded rape accusers. This reputational harm is ignored by feminist scholars, and it is a principal reason we started this website.

The insistence that this myth is alive and well has led to a police and media backlash in far too many quarters where the mere accusation of rape is accepted as true because it's politically incorrect to do otherwise. When a rape accusation is automatically deemed true, the man or boy accused is automatically deemed a rapist. The trial is over even before it has begun, and the man or boy is destroyed in the court of last resort: the court of public opinion. Too many police officers are quick to arrest based on uncorroborated assertions of lone accusers and despite the availabilty of unchecked evidence that fairly rules out the claim. The Hofstra incident, which we wrote about extensively, comes to mind.

Second, to insist that it is a myth to view rape accusers as "vindictive shrews" seems to suggest that the opposite is more likely true, and that rape accusers should be automatically believed. This, of course, is the view posited by extreme feminists, and it is based on their insistence that "women don't lie about rape" (clearly a myth as some, and perhaps many women do lie about rape). Prof. Gruber herself concludes that it is impossible to state with certainty the extent of the false rape problem. Given that fact, and despite the extreme political incorrectness of the assertion, it cannot be ruled out that rape accusers are mostly liars.

________________________________

We need to approach rape claims from the paradigm of objectivity. Women need to be encouraged to report rape, but men and boys accused of rape must not have their good names destroyed before an investigation reveals that they have committed rape. As we have said repeatedly, it is possible to be concerned about both rape and false rape claims. Sadly, the persons who dominate the public discourse about rape assume there is no need for concern about the latter. To disabuse them of this notion, they would do well to spend several weeks reading through the actual cases of false rape claims chronicled on a daily basis on this site.

"While eliminating formal legal barriers to prosecution and publicizing the violent nature of rape did much to shape society's condemnation of paradigmatic rape, it did less to advance the cause of "nonparadigmatic" victims - victims of rapes without physical injuries, victims acquainted with defendants, and victims in sexual professions. This is because such complainants face largely de facto obstacles to prosecution created by lingering sexist norms. Although in modern times even an unchaste woman or vindictive shrew will be believed if raped by a stranger or terribly injured, rape myths still profoundly influence nonparadigmatic rape trials. People continue to believe that women who dress and behave in sexual ways deserve to be raped. Today, respected media commentators show no hesitation in slinging bafflingly sexist attacks at high profile rape complainants: Kobe Bryant's accuser was no more than a "mountain trash slut," and the Duke complainant just a lying "crypto-hooker." Chastity ideals persist even in our highly sexualized Girls Gone Wild society. Co-eds still widely justify their open sexual communication or activity by overconsumption of alcohol that induced them to act in a manner inconsistent with gender paradigms.

"In addition, the vindictive shrew myth continues to pervade nonparadigmatic rape trials, leading jurors to require evidence of corroboration despite elimination of the formal requirement. Some contend that the belief that women lie about rape is no more than a "Bayesian" conclusion based on empirical evidence, and is not a product of sexism. [FOOTNOTE 84: SEE TEXT BELOW] Nonetheless, the statistics on false rape accusation widely vary [FOOTNOTE 85: SEE TEXT BELOW] and "as a scientific matter, the frequency of false rape complaints to police or other legal authorities remains unknown." Continued adherence to the shrew myth is bolstered by the media publicizing cases of false reporting, in which accused date rapists play the role of folk heroes - innocent boys tragically charged by vindictive women. Today, typing "false rape accusations" into Google will produce far more articles with headlines screaming that false reporting is an "alarming national trend" than articles targeted toward dispelling the myth. [FOOTNOTE 88: SEE TEXT BELOW] "Feminists recognized that nonparadigmatic rapes were underreported and underpunished because the date rape trial had become known as a locus of victim trauma and embarrassment, more concerned with reinforcing myths than determining consent or force. Moreover, prevalent stereotypes affected judges' management of cases and caused juries to unfairly acquit either because they mistakenly concluded there was consent or believed the victim deserved it. As a consequence, feminists advocated changes in the rape law that would reflect the reality of stereotyping and subtle sexism, despite the apparent achievement of formal equality."

n85. Reports range from finding false rape claims to be surprisingly rare to astoundingly frequent. Compare Brownmiller, supra note 50, at 387 (noting that only two percent of rape claims are false), with Eugene J. Kanin, False Rape Allegations, 23 Archives Sexual Behav. 81, 84 (1994) (reporting study of small town in which forty-one percent of "disposed" rape cases involved victim recantation). The FBI reported in 1997 that eight percent of rapes were "unfounded." Fed. Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports for the United States 26 (1997), available at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/Cius_97/97crime/97crime.pdf [hereinafter FBI Crime Report]. 1997 was apparently the last time the FBI reported statistics for "unfounded" rapes. See Fed. Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm (last visited Sept. 18, 2009). "Unfounded" does not mean "false," but only that police decided the case was not pursuable, a decision that itself could be influenced by gender stereotypes. See Prompt Complaint, supra note 34, at 985-86 ("Police may think a rape claim is false or unfounded if the victim had a prior relationship with the attacker, used drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack, lacked visible signs of injury, delayed notifying police, did not have a rape exam, blames herself for the rape, or did not immediately conceive of the assault as a rape."). . . . . n88. The first several hits on a Google search for the keywords, "false rape accusation" performed in September 2009, included "FOXNews.com - False Rape Accusations May Be More Common Than Thought"; "GlennSacks.com [-] Research Shows False Accusations of Rape Common"; "Ananda Answers - An alarming national trend - False Rape Allegations"; and "Salon Newsreal [-] Who says women never lie about rape?" No websites on the first page involved establishing false rape reporting as a myth. One website went as far as saying, "False allegations [of rape] are the feminists' "Silver Bullet,' making feminism, an abomination before God, responsible directly for most of our excess prison population." The Christian Party, One Third of the World's Prison Population, http://www.christianparty.net/prison.htm (last visited Sept. 18, 2009).

Few people write extensively about rape aside from (1) extreme feminists in the blogosphere, (2) sexual assault counslors whose livelihood depends on the perception that rape is at least common and more likely rampant, and (3) feminist scholars who have taken a personal interest in the issue. Nothing needs to be written about the first group since their take on rape is well-known, and few even attempt to do more than parrot information gleaned from the third group. The bias arising from the financial interest of members of the second group disqualifies them from offering anything useful to the public discourse about rape. The third group, comprised of feminist rape scholars, furnishes the intellectual firepower for the first and second groups, and it is that third group that dominates the public discourse on rape.

The scholars' world view, to varying degress, is that our social structure is patriarchal, marked by males dominating females, with sexist laws that promote said domination. Their take on rape is consistent with that world view. One scholar, Professor Aya Gruber has published an important article in the Washington Law Review titled "Rape, Feminism, and the War on Crime," 84 Wash. L. Rev. 581 (November 2009). It is interesting for a variety of reasons. Since our focus is false rape claims, it is that aspect of her article that we'll discuss.

We often stress on this site that the language one uses in the rape milieu is important. It not only provides a window into the soul of the writer, but it dictates what casual readers learn from the writing. At the end of this post is an excerpt from Professor Gruber's article, found on pages 595-600 of her article, and I urge readers to look at the langauge she uses.

The article attempts to fairly marshall objective information about our current knowledge of the prevalence of false rape claims. Prof. Gruber properly states that "the statistics on false rape accusation widely vary" and she notes that "'as a scientific matter, the frequency of false rape complaints to police or other legal authorities remains unknown.. . . .'" To her credit, she cites Mr. Greer's and Prof. Kanin's work in footnotes, also excerpted below.

Despite this, Prof. Gruber encrusts her scholarship with the conclusory language of the feminist movement that insists the image of rape accuser as "vindictive shrew" is a myth.

________________________________

I certainly can't make the blanket statement that rape accusers are "vindictive shrews." But asserting that it as a "myth" and leaving it at that is inaccurate because of what it omits, and because of what it suggests.

First, repeating this alleged myth is at least unnecessary and possibly disingenuous. Its underlying premise is that rape accusers are, to this day, viewed as dishonest or untrustworthy. While that might have been true in the past, my extensive review of rape cases, and especially cases where rape claims are eventually found to be false, suggests that it is no longer true. Rape accusers are afforded instant credibility by the police, the news media, and the general public. The fact that juries might have doubts about uncorroborated claims speaks more to the burden of proof and the evidence of particular cases.

Case after case, illustrated on this website, underscore the destructive power of even far-fetched rape accusations unsupported by other evidence. The extreme reputational and other harm to countless men and boys from even disingenuous rape claims attests to the instant credibility afforded rape accusers. This reputational harm is ignored by feminist scholars, and it is a principal reason we started this website.

The insistence that this myth is alive and well has led to a police and media backlash in far too many quarters where the mere accusation of rape is accepted as true because it's politically incorrect to do otherwise. When a rape accusation is automatically deemed true, the man or boy accused is automatically deemed a rapist. The trial is over even before it has begun, and the man or boy is destroyed in the court of last resort: the court of public opinion. Too many police officers are quick to arrest based on uncorroborated assertions of lone accusers and despite the availabilty of unchecked evidence that fairly rules out the claim. The Hofstra incident, which we wrote about extensively, comes to mind.

Second, to insist that it is a myth to view rape accusers as "vindictive shrews" seems to suggest that the opposite is more likely true, and that rape accusers should be automatically believed. This, of course, is the view posited by extreme feminists, and it is based on their insistence that "women don't lie about rape" (clearly a myth as some, and perhaps many women do lie about rape). Prof. Gruber herself concludes that it is impossible to state with certainty the extent of the false rape problem. Given that fact, and despite the extreme political incorrectness of the assertion, it cannot be ruled out that rape accusers are mostly liars.

________________________________

We need to approach rape claims from the paradigm of objectivity. Women need to be encouraged to report rape, but men and boys accused of rape must not have their good names destroyed before an investigation reveals that they have committed rape. As we have said repeatedly, it is possible to be concerned about both rape and false rape claims. Sadly, the persons who dominate the public discourse about rape assume there is no need for concern about the latter. To disabuse them of this notion, they would do well to spend several weeks reading through the actual cases of false rape claims chronicled on a daily basis on this site.

"While eliminating formal legal barriers to prosecution and publicizing the violent nature of rape did much to shape society's condemnation of paradigmatic rape, it did less to advance the cause of "nonparadigmatic" victims - victims of rapes without physical injuries, victims acquainted with defendants, and victims in sexual professions. This is because such complainants face largely de facto obstacles to prosecution created by lingering sexist norms. Although in modern times even an unchaste woman or vindictive shrew will be believed if raped by a stranger or terribly injured, rape myths still profoundly influence nonparadigmatic rape trials. People continue to believe that women who dress and behave in sexual ways deserve to be raped. Today, respected media commentators show no hesitation in slinging bafflingly sexist attacks at high profile rape complainants: Kobe Bryant's accuser was no more than a "mountain trash slut," and the Duke complainant just a lying "crypto-hooker." Chastity ideals persist even in our highly sexualized Girls Gone Wild society. Co-eds still widely justify their open sexual communication or activity by overconsumption of alcohol that induced them to act in a manner inconsistent with gender paradigms.

"In addition, the vindictive shrew myth continues to pervade nonparadigmatic rape trials, leading jurors to require evidence of corroboration despite elimination of the formal requirement. Some contend that the belief that women lie about rape is no more than a "Bayesian" conclusion based on empirical evidence, and is not a product of sexism. [FOOTNOTE 84: SEE TEXT BELOW] Nonetheless, the statistics on false rape accusation widely vary [FOOTNOTE 85: SEE TEXT BELOW] and "as a scientific matter, the frequency of false rape complaints to police or other legal authorities remains unknown." Continued adherence to the shrew myth is bolstered by the media publicizing cases of false reporting, in which accused date rapists play the role of folk heroes - innocent boys tragically charged by vindictive women. Today, typing "false rape accusations" into Google will produce far more articles with headlines screaming that false reporting is an "alarming national trend" than articles targeted toward dispelling the myth. [FOOTNOTE 88: SEE TEXT BELOW]
"Feminists recognized that nonparadigmatic rapes were underreported and underpunished because the date rape trial had become known as a locus of victim trauma and embarrassment, more concerned with reinforcing myths than determining consent or force. Moreover, prevalent stereotypes affected judges' management of cases and caused juries to unfairly acquit either because they mistakenly concluded there was consent or believed the victim deserved it. As a consequence, feminists advocated changes in the rape law that would reflect the reality of stereotyping and subtle sexism, despite the apparent achievement of formal equality."

n85. Reports range from finding false rape claims to be surprisingly rare to astoundingly frequent. Compare Brownmiller, supra note 50, at 387 (noting that only two percent of rape claims are false), with Eugene J. Kanin, False Rape Allegations, 23 Archives Sexual Behav. 81, 84 (1994) (reporting study of small town in which forty-one percent of "disposed" rape cases involved victim recantation). The FBI reported in 1997 that eight percent of rapes were "unfounded." Fed. Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports for the United States 26 (1997), available at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/Cius_97/97crime/97crime.pdf [hereinafter FBI Crime Report]. 1997 was apparently the last time the FBI reported statistics for "unfounded" rapes. See Fed. Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm (last visited Sept. 18, 2009). "Unfounded" does not mean "false," but only that police decided the case was not pursuable, a decision that itself could be influenced by gender stereotypes. See Prompt Complaint, supra note 34, at 985-86 ("Police may think a rape claim is false or unfounded if the victim had a prior relationship with the attacker, used drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack, lacked visible signs of injury, delayed notifying police, did not have a rape exam, blames herself for the rape, or did not immediately conceive of the assault as a rape.").
. . . .
n88. The first several hits on a Google search for the keywords, "false rape accusation" performed in September 2009, included "FOXNews.com - False Rape Accusations May Be More Common Than Thought"; "GlennSacks.com [-] Research Shows False Accusations of Rape Common"; "Ananda Answers - An alarming national trend - False Rape Allegations"; and "Salon Newsreal [-] Who says women never lie about rape?" No websites on the first page involved establishing false rape reporting as a myth. One website went as far as saying, "False allegations [of rape] are the feminists' "Silver Bullet,' making feminism, an abomination before God, responsible directly for most of our excess prison population." The Christian Party, One Third of the World's Prison Population, http://www.christianparty.net/prison.htm (last visited Sept. 18, 2009).

With all of the problems that have happened in recent years with the priest seuxal abuse scandals, it's a wonder that we haven't seen more false accusations. I'm glad Fr Ricardus has been able to withstand the pressures brought about by the false accusation.

Of the 46 cases of sexual abuse examined, only one priest was found to be falsely accused. In two other cases there were suspicions or concerns, but no actual complaint of child sexual abuse.

“Fr Ricardus” was ordained in the 1960s and worked in various parishes around Dublin. In January 2003 a man accused him of sexual assault, buggery and attempted oral rape when he was aged seven.

The complaint was made to another priest and was passed on to the archdiocese and the Garda.Cardinal Desmond Connell met Fr Ricardus who vehemently denied the allegations, but agreed to step down from his ministry.

He was assessed by the Granada Institute, a specialist service in adult mental health, who filed a report in his favour. The complainant made a statement to gardaí in June, as did his parents. But his father later admitted he had no recollection of the events and his mother said she had made some mistakes in her recollection.

When the archdiocese’s child protection advisory panel met in August, its view was that Fr Ricardus should not return to his ministry until it was clear there would be no criminal proceedings.

The archdiocese investigation was complete in early September 2003. It found the allegation against Fr Ricardus had no substance and he could return to his ministry. He had been out for 8½ months.

Gardaí sent a file to the DPP and he decided not to prosecute. Gardaí then investigated the complainant. He was later charged and convicted of making a false statement under Section 12 of the Criminal Law Act 1976. He received a three-year sentence.

Fr Ricardus told the commission the experience was “extremely difficult and harrowing for him”.

The report said he graphically described the shock of being informed of the allegation, the feeling of alienation and abandonment when he was asked to step aside from his ministry and the long wait for the processes to be gone through.

“The commission commends his courage in agreeing to give evidence, but more importantly in getting on with his life and putting the experience behind him in so far as is possible,” the report said.

With all of the problems that have happened in recent years with the priest seuxal abuse scandals, it's a wonder that we haven't seen more false accusations. I'm glad Fr Ricardus has been able to withstand the pressures brought about by the false accusation.

Of the 46 cases of sexual abuse examined, only one priest was found to be falsely accused. In two other cases there were suspicions or concerns, but no actual complaint of child sexual abuse.

“Fr Ricardus” was ordained in the 1960s and worked in various parishes around Dublin. In January 2003 a man accused him of sexual assault, buggery and attempted oral rape when he was aged seven.

The complaint was made to another priest and was passed on to the archdiocese and the Garda.
Cardinal Desmond Connell met Fr Ricardus who vehemently denied the allegations, but agreed to step down from his ministry.

He was assessed by the Granada Institute, a specialist service in adult mental health, who filed a report in his favour. The complainant made a statement to gardaí in June, as did his parents. But his father later admitted he had no recollection of the events and his mother said she had made some mistakes in her recollection.

When the archdiocese’s child protection advisory panel met in August, its view was that Fr Ricardus should not return to his ministry until it was clear there would be no criminal proceedings.

The archdiocese investigation was complete in early September 2003. It found the allegation against Fr Ricardus had no substance and he could return to his ministry. He had been out for 8½ months.

Gardaí sent a file to the DPP and he decided not to prosecute. Gardaí then investigated the complainant. He was later charged and convicted of making a false statement under Section 12 of the Criminal Law Act 1976. He received a three-year sentence.

Fr Ricardus told the commission the experience was “extremely difficult and harrowing for him”.

The report said he graphically described the shock of being informed of the allegation, the feeling of alienation and abandonment when he was asked to step aside from his ministry and the long wait for the processes to be gone through.

“The commission commends his courage in agreeing to give evidence, but more importantly in getting on with his life and putting the experience behind him in so far as is possible,” the report said.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

I would love to know if there was any evidence, other than a 12-year-old girl's word, that was used to convict Mr. Burrowes. At least in this case, the prosecution stepped up when they learned that the girl lied and pushed for his exoneration. While I don't believe prison is the answer, there does need to be a very stiff punishment handed down. Three years in jail, based on your lie, merits something.

Prosecutors: She Told False Story To Protect Another Man

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee man who served three years in prison for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl is a free man after a judge threw out the conviction and ordered him removed from the sex offender registry.

Prosecutors said the accuser blamed the wrong man to protect another, and in a remarkable move, the district attorney's office asked a judge to throw out the conviction.

"It was a nightmare. Honestly it was," Chris Burrowes said.

Three years ago, police dragged Burrowes from his home as his 3-year-old daughter Christiana looked on.

"I never wanted her to have to go through seeing something like that especially her being so young and being her father, she loves me so much," Burrowes said.

A 12-year-old girl who lived near the basketball courts where he played told police she had sex with Burrowes at his north side home.

Prosecutors offered him a plea deal. He refused and a jury returned a guilty verdict.

Burrowes served three years in prison, and until Thursday, appeared on the sex offender registry.

"I've never been known to do anything the girl alleged me of doing, so I was shocked myself when I heard about it, and the fact that they found me guilty and tried to put me on the sex offender's list was like, 'I don't know.' It was just like, 'Whoa, like (the) sex offenders list -- that's like ruining my life, my reputation, my work, my career everything you know,'" Burrowes said.

Wednesday, a judge threw out Burrowes' conviction after the district attorney said the now-16-year-old girl had recanted, saying she had blamed Burrowes to protect a relative she was having sex with."

She was in love with him and didn't want to tell on him so he would go to jail, so she pinned it against someone else. She pinned it against me," Burrowes said.

Relatives at the girl's home said they couldn't comment, and Burrowes won't comment on the girl. He's just thankful he's been exonerated -- especially for Christiana, whom he's just getting to know again.

"It matters a lot for her to know that she got a good daddy, and I'm going to be there for her and I'm not the type of guy that they tried to play me out to be," Burrowes said.

Burrowes had no prior criminal record. He's now working and going to school to become a barber.

As for the girl, the district attorney's office said it learned the girl recanted when they interviewed her as part of another investigation. It must now determine whether to charge her with perjury.

No one from the district attorney's office was available to talk on camera.

I would love to know if there was any evidence, other than a 12-year-old girl's word, that was used to convict Mr. Burrowes. At least in this case, the prosecution stepped up when they learned that the girl lied and pushed for his exoneration. While I don't believe prison is the answer, there does need to be a very stiff punishment handed down. Three years in jail, based on your lie, merits something.

Prosecutors: She Told False Story To Protect Another Man

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee man who served three years in prison for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl is a free man after a judge threw out the conviction and ordered him removed from the sex offender registry.

Prosecutors said the accuser blamed the wrong man to protect another, and in a remarkable move, the district attorney's office asked a judge to throw out the conviction.

"It was a nightmare. Honestly it was," Chris Burrowes said.

Three years ago, police dragged Burrowes from his home as his 3-year-old daughter Christiana looked on.

"I never wanted her to have to go through seeing something like that especially her being so young and being her father, she loves me so much," Burrowes said.

A 12-year-old girl who lived near the basketball courts where he played told police she had sex with Burrowes at his north side home.

Prosecutors offered him a plea deal. He refused and a jury returned a guilty verdict.

Burrowes served three years in prison, and until Thursday, appeared on the sex offender registry.

"I've never been known to do anything the girl alleged me of doing, so I was shocked myself when I heard about it, and the fact that they found me guilty and tried to put me on the sex offender's list was like, 'I don't know.' It was just like, 'Whoa, like (the) sex offenders list -- that's like ruining my life, my reputation, my work, my career everything you know,'" Burrowes said.

Wednesday, a judge threw out Burrowes' conviction after the district attorney said the now-16-year-old girl had recanted, saying she had blamed Burrowes to protect a relative she was having sex with."

She was in love with him and didn't want to tell on him so he would go to jail, so she pinned it against someone else. She pinned it against me," Burrowes said.

Relatives at the girl's home said they couldn't comment, and Burrowes won't comment on the girl. He's just thankful he's been exonerated -- especially for Christiana, whom he's just getting to know again.

"It matters a lot for her to know that she got a good daddy, and I'm going to be there for her and I'm not the type of guy that they tried to play me out to be," Burrowes said.

Burrowes had no prior criminal record. He's now working and going to school to become a barber.

As for the girl, the district attorney's office said it learned the girl recanted when they interviewed her as part of another investigation. It must now determine whether to charge her with perjury.

No one from the district attorney's office was available to talk on camera.

A District man who was incarcerated for 28 years in the rape and murder of a Georgetown University student in Rock Creek Park was ordered released Tuesday by a D.C. Superior Court judge after DNA evidence revealed that another man committed the crime.

Donald Eugene Gates, now 58, had maintained his innocence from the start. He was to board a bus from a prison in Arizona on Tuesday afternoon and head to a new home -- and a new life -- in his home town of Akron, Ohio.

Although the judge's ruling frees Gates, it does not exonerate him. There will be a separate hearing to make that determination after more DNA testing is completed.

"This is very exciting and beautiful," Gates said as he tried to figure out how to operate the cellphone belonging to his Arizona-based attorney. Gates said he was trying to "process everything" now that he had been released from a life sentence.

At Tuesday's hearing, senior Judge Fred B. Ugast angrily criticized government officials who relied heavily on the testimony of an FBI analyst during Gates's trial. The analyst incorrectly linked two hairs from an African American male to Gates. The hairs were found on the body of Catherine Schilling, 21, a white college student who had had been shot five times in the head in 1981. Semen was found on her body.

A 1997 review by the Justice Department discredited the work of that FBI analyst, Michael P. Malone, and 13 other analysts, finding that they had made false reports and performed inaccurate tests.

Although DNA exonerations have received nationwide publicity, Gates is only the second District defendant to be cleared using DNA, according to the Innocence Project, a national group dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people. The last was in 1990.

In this case, attorneys said, the U.S attorney's office will have a difficult time convicting Schilling's real killer, even if they identify him. Evidence and case files are missing, and the original trial jacket is gone, officials said.

Gates continued to fight for his exoneration from the Tucson prison where he was held, one of various prisons across the country to which D.C. convicts are sent. Last year, the District's Public Defender Service filed a motion to have further DNA testing done on Schilling's remains. Those and subsequent tests discovered another man's DNA and indicated that Gates did not commit the crime, attorneys said in court.

Ben Friedman, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the District, said the case is now considered an "ongoing investigation." Detectives are checking national DNA databases in an attempt to identify a new suspect. "If we don't have the correct murderer, we're going to do everything we can to find who the correct murderer is," Friedman said.

Reached at her Colorado home, Margaret Schilling, declined to comment on her daughter's case.

In court, Ugast asked how such a mistake could occur and go undetected for so long. "This is outrageous," the judge said. He ordered a review of all convictions in the District in which Malone testified. "We are trying to right a wrong," he said.

Prosecutors said authorities had relied on more than testimony about hair when they asked a jury to convict Gates. A government-paid informant who said he knew Gates from the five years Gates lived in the District in the early 1980s testified that Gates confessed to him. Gates told attorneys that he had never heard of the witness.

Another witness testified that Gates tried to rob her just days before Schilling was killed and in the same place.

Ugast, who is a former chief judge and is now on senior status, oversaw the Gates trial in 1982. A jury found Gates guilty of felony murder while armed, and Ugast sentenced him to 20 years to life.

In 1988, Gates wrote Ugast from prison asking the judge to order a DNA test. He even promised to pay for the test himself. Ugast granted the test. But at the time, genetic testing was less reliable, and the results were not conclusive.

Then in late 2007, as his former court-appointed attorney, Roger Durban, was preparing to retire, Durban wrote Ugast asking him to order another DNA test if Gates was still alive. Durban sent a copy of the letter to the District's Public Defender Service.

At the hearing, Ugast asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Joan Draper why it took so long for prosecutors to look into the case. "We began looking into it as soon as it was brought to our attention," Draper said.

Draper said the government would provide Gates with winter clothes, $75 and a bus ticket to Ohio, where he still has family. Gates's adviser, University of Arizona law professor Andy Silverman, who met him at the bus terminal, said Gates had to pay $35 for a cab ride from the prison to the Greyhound station.

At the hearing, Gates's attorney, Sandra K. Levick, asked that he receive more financial help. "Mr. Gates is a victim here. We ask the U.S. to use more resources beyond this pittance so Mr. Gates can get on with his life," she said.

Another hearing was scheduled for Dec. 23, at which prosecutors will review all the DNA testing to determine whether Gates should be exonerated and be released from having to register as a sex offender.

One of Gates's friends, Ricardo Nesbitt, who attended the hearing, said he never thought that his friend could have raped and killed anyone. "I knew he wasn't the one," said Nesbitt, who used to play basketball with Gates on the public courts on Seventh Street NW and worked with him unloading trucks.

Gates "just wouldn't do anything like that. He deserves more than $75."

A District man who was incarcerated for 28 years in the rape and murder of a Georgetown University student in Rock Creek Park was ordered released Tuesday by a D.C. Superior Court judge after DNA evidence revealed that another man committed the crime.

Donald Eugene Gates, now 58, had maintained his innocence from the start. He was to board a bus from a prison in Arizona on Tuesday afternoon and head to a new home -- and a new life -- in his home town of Akron, Ohio.

Although the judge's ruling frees Gates, it does not exonerate him. There will be a separate hearing to make that determination after more DNA testing is completed.

"This is very exciting and beautiful," Gates said as he tried to figure out how to operate the cellphone belonging to his Arizona-based attorney. Gates said he was trying to "process everything" now that he had been released from a life sentence.

At Tuesday's hearing, senior Judge Fred B. Ugast angrily criticized government officials who relied heavily on the testimony of an FBI analyst during Gates's trial. The analyst incorrectly linked two hairs from an African American male to Gates. The hairs were found on the body of Catherine Schilling, 21, a white college student who had had been shot five times in the head in 1981. Semen was found on her body.

A 1997 review by the Justice Department discredited the work of that FBI analyst, Michael P. Malone, and 13 other analysts, finding that they had made false reports and performed inaccurate tests.

Although DNA exonerations have received nationwide publicity, Gates is only the second District defendant to be cleared using DNA, according to the Innocence Project, a national group dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people. The last was in 1990.

In this case, attorneys said, the U.S attorney's office will have a difficult time convicting Schilling's real killer, even if they identify him. Evidence and case files are missing, and the original trial jacket is gone, officials said.

Gates continued to fight for his exoneration from the Tucson prison where he was held, one of various prisons across the country to which D.C. convicts are sent. Last year, the District's Public Defender Service filed a motion to have further DNA testing done on Schilling's remains. Those and subsequent tests discovered another man's DNA and indicated that Gates did not commit the crime, attorneys said in court.

Ben Friedman, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the District, said the case is now considered an "ongoing investigation." Detectives are checking national DNA databases in an attempt to identify a new suspect. "If we don't have the correct murderer, we're going to do everything we can to find who the correct murderer is," Friedman said.

Reached at her Colorado home, Margaret Schilling, declined to comment on her daughter's case.

In court, Ugast asked how such a mistake could occur and go undetected for so long. "This is outrageous," the judge said. He ordered a review of all convictions in the District in which Malone testified. "We are trying to right a wrong," he said.

Prosecutors said authorities had relied on more than testimony about hair when they asked a jury to convict Gates. A government-paid informant who said he knew Gates from the five years Gates lived in the District in the early 1980s testified that Gates confessed to him. Gates told attorneys that he had never heard of the witness.

Another witness testified that Gates tried to rob her just days before Schilling was killed and in the same place.

Ugast, who is a former chief judge and is now on senior status, oversaw the Gates trial in 1982. A jury found Gates guilty of felony murder while armed, and Ugast sentenced him to 20 years to life.

In 1988, Gates wrote Ugast from prison asking the judge to order a DNA test. He even promised to pay for the test himself. Ugast granted the test. But at the time, genetic testing was less reliable, and the results were not conclusive.

Then in late 2007, as his former court-appointed attorney, Roger Durban, was preparing to retire, Durban wrote Ugast asking him to order another DNA test if Gates was still alive. Durban sent a copy of the letter to the District's Public Defender Service.

At the hearing, Ugast asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Joan Draper why it took so long for prosecutors to look into the case. "We began looking into it as soon as it was brought to our attention," Draper said.

Draper said the government would provide Gates with winter clothes, $75 and a bus ticket to Ohio, where he still has family. Gates's adviser, University of Arizona law professor Andy Silverman, who met him at the bus terminal, said Gates had to pay $35 for a cab ride from the prison to the Greyhound station.

At the hearing, Gates's attorney, Sandra K. Levick, asked that he receive more financial help. "Mr. Gates is a victim here. We ask the U.S. to use more resources beyond this pittance so Mr. Gates can get on with his life," she said.

Another hearing was scheduled for Dec. 23, at which prosecutors will review all the DNA testing to determine whether Gates should be exonerated and be released from having to register as a sex offender.

One of Gates's friends, Ricardo Nesbitt, who attended the hearing, said he never thought that his friend could have raped and killed anyone. "I knew he wasn't the one," said Nesbitt, who used to play basketball with Gates on the public courts on Seventh Street NW and worked with him unloading trucks.

Gates "just wouldn't do anything like that. He deserves more than $75."

British Airways, Qantas, and New Zealand have policies barring adult males from sitting next to unaccompanied child passengers. This sort of gender profiling that assumes the worst about every male because of the conduct of a tiny percentage of males would not be tolerated with respect to any other class of citizens. Discrimination against men is the last acceptable form of prejudice.

Mr. Schuringa is not alone, of course. The policy would also assume that Jesus Christ, Saint Paul, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, Barack Obama, Albert Schweitzer, every fireman who ever sacrificed his life running into a burning building to save someone, every serviceman who ever sacrificed his life -- and innumerable, countless other great men -- would not be worthy to sit next to an unaccompanied child on an airplane.

The absurdity of this policy is almost unfathomable, and it would be laughable were it not so hateful.

British Airways, Qantas, and New Zealand have policies barring adult males from sitting next to unaccompanied child passengers. This sort of gender profiling that assumes the worst about every male because of the conduct of a tiny percentage of males would not be tolerated with respect to any other class of citizens. Discrimination against men is the last acceptable form of prejudice.

Mr. Schuringa is not alone, of course. The policy would also assume that Jesus Christ, Saint Paul, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, Barack Obama, Albert Schweitzer, every fireman who ever sacrificed his life running into a burning building to save someone, every serviceman who ever sacrificed his life -- and innumerable, countless other great men -- would not be worthy to sit next to an unaccompanied child on an airplane.

The absurdity of this policy is almost unfathomable, and it would be laughable were it not so hateful.

ZIMBABWE – TSHOLOTSHO- A 31-year-old Tsholotsho woman fell in love with her husband’s uncle aged 72 and later made a false report of rape against him in a bid to cover up the adulterous relationship, a magistrate heard on Wednesday.

The woman made the report when she thought some people had seen them while they were intimate in the bush.

Tsholotsho senior resident magistrate, Toindepi Zhou was told this at the initial appearance of Samukeliso Maduma, of Maqethuka Village.

She is facing a charge of making a false report as defined by the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act.

She was remanded in custody to today for plea recording as she indicated that she was admitting to the charge.

Asked by the magistrate why she made a false report against the complainant Elias Moyo, Maduma said she was in love with him and on the day they were intimate in the bush, she thought someone saw them.

She said she wanted to counter the person so that when it reaches the ears of her husband it would appear that his uncle had raped her.

The prosecutor- in- charge of Tsholotsho courts, Fritz Madida, told the court that on 15 November, Maduma went to Tsholotsho Police Station and made a report that her husband’s uncle had raped her.

Moyo was arrested and remanded in custody on 16 November.

However, when police were making further investigations into the matter, Maduma revealed that she had lied against Moyo.

ZIMBABWE – TSHOLOTSHO- A 31-year-old Tsholotsho woman fell in love with her husband’s uncle aged 72 and later made a false report of rape against him in a bid to cover up the adulterous relationship, a magistrate heard on Wednesday.

The woman made the report when she thought some people had seen them while they were intimate in the bush.

Tsholotsho senior resident magistrate, Toindepi Zhou was told this at the initial appearance of Samukeliso Maduma, of Maqethuka Village.

She is facing a charge of making a false report as defined by the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act.

She was remanded in custody to today for plea recording as she indicated that she was admitting to the charge.

Asked by the magistrate why she made a false report against the complainant Elias Moyo, Maduma said she was in love with him and on the day they were intimate in the bush, she thought someone saw them.

She said she wanted to counter the person so that when it reaches the ears of her husband it would appear that his uncle had raped her.

The prosecutor- in- charge of Tsholotsho courts, Fritz Madida, told the court that on 15 November, Maduma went to Tsholotsho Police Station and made a report that her husband’s uncle had raped her.

Moyo was arrested and remanded in custody on 16 November.

However, when police were making further investigations into the matter, Maduma revealed that she had lied against Moyo.

The big news story this morning is an act of heroism: Passengers help foil attack on Detroit-bound plane. The attempted terrorist attack was a frightening reminder that we still live in a dangerous world. But the way it was covered by the news media is a sad reminder that we live in a world that doesn't appreciate masculinity.

As soon as I saw the headline, I figured that the heroes were mainly, or exclusively, male, and that this fact would not be highlighted by the press. I was right.

The news media can't repeat enough that the terrorist was a "man." But what about the folks who subdued him? In the above-story, early on, we read this: "At least one person climbed over others and jumped on the man, who officials say was trying to ignite an explosive device."

Did you get that? A "person" was the hero. Here we go, I thought. Just as the news outlet decided to call the terrorist a a "man," it also could have referred to the heroic "person" by his or her gender. The fact that it didn't, and that this sort of thing plays out in a thousand news stories every year, is not coincidence.

I had to read deep into the story to find the following: "Passenger Syed Jafri, a U.S. citizen who had flown from the United Arab Emirates, said the incident occurred during the plane's descent. Jafri said he was seated three rows behind the passenger and said he saw a glow, and noticed a smoke smell. Then, he said, 'a young man behind me jumped on him.'" (Emphasis added.)

So, the principal hero not only was a man, he was a much-maligned "young man." Funny, but the newspapers can't publish enough stories about the rudderless, underachieving young possessors of Y-chromosomes who can't stand the fact that that their undeserved male privilege has been stripped of them in the new "woman's world." And every time I read one of those stories, I know that they are written for the amusement of a certain sort of angry woman, and that they don't reflect the young men I come across. Funnier still. when I read the story about the Detroit-bound hero, I figured the hero was a young man, and I was right.

And, seriously, you'd better stop a minute before you accuse me of hypersensitivity. It is palpably politically incorrect to equate stereotypical good masculine qualities, such as heroism and risk-taking, with men and boys. Our enlightened news media, taking its cue from the crushing weight of a thousand feminist prevarications, insists that men and women are exactly the same and that nothing especially good emanates from masculinity. The news media will do backflips to find a woman or girl exhibiting typical masculine virtues, but highlighting the sex of a hero is verboten -- unless the hero is a she.

Recent case in point: The woman who shot Liberty Valence. The entire nation applauded Sgt. Kimberly Munley when everyone thought she was the one who brought down the Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. Munley was hailed in some quarters precisely because she is a woman. Brave though she was, the news media initially got it wrong. It was Senior Sgt. Mark Todd who felled Hasan. A "he." Not much was written about Sgt. Todd, precisely because he isn't a woman.

You see, a man being heroic doesn't fit with the preferred metanarrative that men and women are exactly the same -- except men are more evil.

The big news story this morning is an act of heroism: Passengers help foil attack on Detroit-bound plane. The attempted terrorist attack was a frightening reminder that we still live in a dangerous world. But the way it was covered by the news media is a sad reminder that we live in a world that doesn't appreciate masculinity.

As soon as I saw the headline, I figured that the heroes were mainly, or exclusively, male, and that this fact would not be highlighted by the press. I was right.

The news media can't repeat enough that the terrorist was a "man." But what about the folks who subdued him? In the above-story, early on, we read this: "At least one person climbed over others and jumped on the man, who officials say was trying to ignite an explosive device."

Did you get that? A "person" was the hero. Here we go, I thought. Just as the news outlet decided to call the terrorist a a "man," it also could have referred to the heroic "person" by his or her gender. The fact that it didn't, and that this sort of thing plays out in a thousand news stories every year, is not coincidence.

I had to read deep into the story to find the following: "Passenger Syed Jafri, a U.S. citizen who had flown from the United Arab Emirates, said the incident occurred during the plane's descent. Jafri said he was seated three rows behind the passenger and said he saw a glow, and noticed a smoke smell. Then, he said, 'a young man behind me jumped on him.'" (Emphasis added.)

So, the principal hero not only was a man, he was a much-maligned "young man." Funny, but the newspapers can't publish enough stories about the rudderless, underachieving young possessors of Y-chromosomes who can't stand the fact that that their undeserved male privilege has been stripped of them in the new "woman's world." And every time I read one of those stories, I know that they are written for the amusement of a certain sort of angry woman, and that they don't reflect the young men I come across. Funnier still. when I read the story about the Detroit-bound hero, I figured the hero was a young man, and I was right.

And, seriously, you'd better stop a minute before you accuse me of hypersensitivity. It is palpably politically incorrect to equate stereotypical good masculine qualities, such as heroism and risk-taking, with men and boys. Our enlightened news media, taking its cue from the crushing weight of a thousand feminist prevarications, insists that men and women are exactly the same and that nothing especially good emanates from masculinity. The news media will do backflips to find a woman or girl exhibiting typical masculine virtues, but highlighting the sex of a hero is verboten -- unless the hero is a she.

Recent case in point: The woman who shot Liberty Valence. The entire nation applauded Sgt. Kimberly Munley when everyone thought she was the one who brought down the Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. Munley was hailed in some quarters precisely because she is a woman. Brave though she was, the news media initially got it wrong. It was Senior Sgt. Mark Todd who felled Hasan. A "he." Not much was written about Sgt. Todd, precisely because he isn't a woman.

You see, a man being heroic doesn't fit with the preferred metanarrative that men and women are exactly the same -- except men are more evil.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

On behalf of Pierce and I, we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all of our readers. Without you, this site would mean nothing. Your continued support means everything. Both to us, and to those who have been falsely accused.

On behalf of Pierce and I, we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all of our readers. Without you, this site would mean nothing. Your continued support means everything. Both to us, and to those who have been falsely accused.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Before you read the news story below, please keep the following in mind.

The decision not to charge the false accuser in this case is a manifestation of a sad national trend that allows false rape accusers to destroy the lives of men and boys with little or no punishment. We chronicle on daily basis the news accounts of men, boys, and, yes, even some women who have been falsely accused of rape and whose reputations are often damaged beyond repair. Many false rape victims are arrested and jailed for days, weeks or months before the lie that put them behind bars is exposed. Some are wrongly convicted and imprisoned for years before their false accusers recant or other evidence proves their innocence. Some false rape victims are beaten by angry relatives and friends of their false accusers, and, yes, some are even murdered (-- part of the "believe the [alleged] rape victim" mentality). Some can't bear the thought of losing their good names and tragically kill themselves.

For the "lucky" victims of false rape claim, they aren't wrongly imprisoned for years but, still, many lose their jobs and livelihoods, their spouses, girlfriends, and businesses because of even far-fetched rape lies that are quickly exposed. Some are never able to obtain decent employment again because the allegation trails them like a ghost for the remainder of their lives.

On that point, please note as you read the story that if this false accuser had named a male as her "rapist," his name would have been splashed all over the news. In contrast, even though she is a false accuser, she is still not named and her reputation will be relatively unscathed for the remainder of her life.

In addition, as you read the story, please note the comment at the end by the sexual assault counselor to "believe the victim." In light of the serious problem of false rape claims, and in light of the terrible harm that is often inflicted on men and boys falsely accused of rape, any advice to "believe the victim" is grotesque and irresponsible in the extreme. It assumes against all evidence that any woman or girl who cries rape is automatically a "victim," which also means that any man or boy named by an accuser must automatically be guilty -- the accused has lost the trial even before it has begun. For persons who believe that rape accusers must always be believed, I hope you are not male, or that you have no husband, sons, boyfriend, brothers, uncles, father or male friends because false rape accusations can victimize anyone born with a Y-chromosome. And if you are a female teacher, you are also at risk. You would do well to spend several weeks reading through the true-life accounts related on this website about the damage false rape claims cause to innocent people who are guilty by reason of penis -- victimized because they were a handy male scapegoat.HERE IS THE NEWS STORY:

Prosecutors decided Tuesday not to charge a 19-year-old woman for falsely reporting she was sexually assaulted in a parking lot near Winona State University.

The woman, a WSU student, had told police a man sneaked up behind her early on Dec. 5, put a bag over her head and carried her to a parking lot where he took off her pants and assaulted her. Her claim spurred a police investigation and prompted the school to issue a campus-wide safety alert.

But the woman later admitted the report was fake, police said.

The case highlights a difficulty faced by police and prosecutors in cases of fraudulent sexual assaults. Officials weighed the benefits of seeking justice with the chance that charges could make actual victims less likely to come forward.

"We didn't take this lightly; there was a lot of time, a lot of effort behind this," Deputy Police Chief Tom Williams said. "It's a tough call. We don't want true victims to not come forward, because we obviously take them very seriously."

Police wrote a citation for the woman, but referred the case to the City Attorney's Office for review - an unusual step for a misdemeanor ticket that indicates the sensitivity of the case.

Assistant City Attorney Brian Glodosky said this was the first time he has dealt with a citation for a false sex assault report. He spent extra time reviewing the case file and even spoke to the woman before deciding not to pursue charges.

"Just because we can convict someone of something doesn't always mean we should," he said.

Glodosky declined to prosecute because the woman has a clean record and is an honor roll student, and because the incident appeared out of character for her, he said. The woman has problems that could be better handled outside of the court system, the prosector said, declining to be more specific.

The woman agreed to reimburse the police department for the cost of the investigation.

Victims advocates say they hope the case doesn't discourage actual victims from coming forward, or cause community members to doubt other reports of sexual assault.

Before you read the news story below, please keep the following in mind.

The decision not to charge the false accuser in this case is a manifestation of a sad national trend that allows false rape accusers to destroy the lives of men and boys with little or no punishment. We chronicle on daily basis the news accounts of men, boys, and, yes, even some women who have been falsely accused of rape and whose reputations are often damaged beyond repair. Many false rape victims are arrested and jailed for days, weeks or months before the lie that put them behind bars is exposed. Some are wrongly convicted and imprisoned for years before their false accusers recant or other evidence proves their innocence. Some false rape victims are beaten by angry relatives and friends of their false accusers, and, yes, some are even murdered (-- part of the "believe the [alleged] rape victim" mentality). Some can't bear the thought of losing their good names and tragically kill themselves.

For the "lucky" victims of false rape claim, they aren't wrongly imprisoned for years but, still, many lose their jobs and livelihoods, their spouses, girlfriends, and businesses because of even far-fetched rape lies that are quickly exposed. Some are never able to obtain decent employment again because the allegation trails them like a ghost for the remainder of their lives.

On that point, please note as you read the story that if this false accuser had named a male as her "rapist," his name would have been splashed all over the news. In contrast, even though she is a false accuser, she is still not named and her reputation will be relatively unscathed for the remainder of her life.

In addition, as you read the story, please note the comment at the end by the sexual assault counselor to "believe the victim." In light of the serious problem of false rape claims, and in light of the terrible harm that is often inflicted on men and boys falsely accused of rape, any advice to "believe the victim" is grotesque and irresponsible in the extreme. It assumes against all evidence that any woman or girl who cries rape is automatically a "victim," which also means that any man or boy named by an accuser must automatically be guilty -- the accused has lost the trial even before it has begun. For persons who believe that rape accusers must always be believed, I hope you are not male, or that you have no husband, sons, boyfriend, brothers, uncles, father or male friends because false rape accusations can victimize anyone born with a Y-chromosome. And if you are a female teacher, you are also at risk. You would do well to spend several weeks reading through the true-life accounts related on this website about the damage false rape claims cause to innocent people who are guilty by reason of penis -- victimized because they were a handy male scapegoat.

A man who was jailed for rape after going to the aid of a drunken teenager in Edinburgh has been declared a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Desmond Uttley was sentenced to six years in jail after he was found guilty of raping the 15-year-old girl in 2002.

However, after hearing new evidence, judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal overturned his conviction.

The 35-year-old had denied raping the schoolgirl at his Lochend Gardens home on 14 June in 2002.

He had stood trial at the High Court in Glasgow later that year.

The girl had been out with a 14-year-old male friend and both been "extremely intoxicated" after drinking cider.

She was unable to stand without help and was lying on the road in the pouring rain when Mr Uttley arrived on the scene and helped her friend to pick her up.

He invited them both back to his house and carried the girl to his home where he laid her on a bed and she fell asleep.

During Mr Uttley's trial she identified him as her attacker, although she had given the police two descriptions of her assailant, neither of which matched him.

After jurors retired to consider their verdict, they returned to the court with questions over whether tests were carried out on swabs taken from the teenager, and if Mr Uttley's DNA was present on them.

The trial judge, Lord Menzies, told them there was no DNA evidence in respect of those swabs.

The appeal court heard that no blood or semen was found on the swabs from the teenager and they were not submitted for DNA testing.

Three menMr Uttley's defence lawyers on Thursday led evidence at his appeal from a Strathclyde University forensic science lecturer, Dr Adrian Linacre, who was asked to examine swabs taken from the teenager in 2004.

He carried out a particular type of DNA analysis on the Y chromosome, which was different from the standard genetic fingerprinting test.

He found no DNA matching Mr Uttley, but did find there was some from three other male sources.

Lady Dorrian said: "We are satisfied that the verdict, returned in ignorance of this evidence, must be regarded as a miscarriage of justice."

The Crown asked for time to consider the judgement over whether to make a motion for a new prosecution.

A man who was jailed for rape after going to the aid of a drunken teenager in Edinburgh has been declared a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Desmond Uttley was sentenced to six years in jail after he was found guilty of raping the 15-year-old girl in 2002.

However, after hearing new evidence, judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal overturned his conviction.

The 35-year-old had denied raping the schoolgirl at his Lochend Gardens home on 14 June in 2002.

He had stood trial at the High Court in Glasgow later that year.

The girl had been out with a 14-year-old male friend and both been "extremely intoxicated" after drinking cider.

She was unable to stand without help and was lying on the road in the pouring rain when Mr Uttley arrived on the scene and helped her friend to pick her up.

He invited them both back to his house and carried the girl to his home where he laid her on a bed and she fell asleep.

During Mr Uttley's trial she identified him as her attacker, although she had given the police two descriptions of her assailant, neither of which matched him.

After jurors retired to consider their verdict, they returned to the court with questions over whether tests were carried out on swabs taken from the teenager, and if Mr Uttley's DNA was present on them.

The trial judge, Lord Menzies, told them there was no DNA evidence in respect of those swabs.

The appeal court heard that no blood or semen was found on the swabs from the teenager and they were not submitted for DNA testing.

Three menMr Uttley's defence lawyers on Thursday led evidence at his appeal from a Strathclyde University forensic science lecturer, Dr Adrian Linacre, who was asked to examine swabs taken from the teenager in 2004.

He carried out a particular type of DNA analysis on the Y chromosome, which was different from the standard genetic fingerprinting test.

He found no DNA matching Mr Uttley, but did find there was some from three other male sources.

Lady Dorrian said: "We are satisfied that the verdict, returned in ignorance of this evidence, must be regarded as a miscarriage of justice."

The Crown asked for time to consider the judgement over whether to make a motion for a new prosecution.

So her sentence is deferred. As long as she keeps her nose clean for a while, she is free to falsely accuse someone else down the road. I hope that she at least has to pay back the costs of the investigation.

A PREGNANT teenager’s mother said today she was mystified over why her daughter falsely claimed she had been raped at knifepoint.

Moray College student Lucinda Hicks, of 23 Kingsmills, Elgin, told officers she had been raped by an unidentified man on a pathway near Grampian Road, Elgin, on April 9.

Elgin Sheriff Court heard the false allegations resulted in Grampian Police devoting almost 800 police officer hours to the inquiry and questioning more than 300 people.

Hicks, 17, had her sentence deferred after she admitted making false representations and causing the police to devote time and services, at the public expense, to an investigation which she knew to be false.

So her sentence is deferred. As long as she keeps her nose clean for a while, she is free to falsely accuse someone else down the road. I hope that she at least has to pay back the costs of the investigation.

A PREGNANT teenager’s mother said today she was mystified over why her daughter falsely claimed she had been raped at knifepoint.

Moray College student Lucinda Hicks, of 23 Kingsmills, Elgin, told officers she had been raped by an unidentified man on a pathway near Grampian Road, Elgin, on April 9.

Elgin Sheriff Court heard the false allegations resulted in Grampian Police devoting almost 800 police officer hours to the inquiry and questioning more than 300 people.

Hicks, 17, had her sentence deferred after she admitted making false representations and causing the police to devote time and services, at the public expense, to an investigation which she knew to be false.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

To the persons responsible for this flyer, that circulated on a U.S. college campus several months ago, thanks for the unfair stereotyping. If this were directed at any other class except for men, we'd have a word for it: bigotry. For example, what would be the reaction to a flyer that said, "Want to stop theft on campus? Hispanics can stop theft! Hispanics: STOP stealing!!!!"

But prejudice and hatred have no application to men on our gender-politicized college campuses. White college boys are the feminists' piñatas, fair game to be beaten for sport.The organizations that sponsor these posters ostensibly want to engage men in positive ways, but generally, ill-conceived efforts like this are nothing more than manifestations of a pervasive movement to institutionalize women as unassailable victims and men as condemnable perps.

Posters like this never stopped a single rape, because rapists aren't shamed by things like this. Here's the problem with the entire discourse: instead of talking about "rapists/criminals" and asking "non-rapists/innocent persons" to become involved to help fight rape, these organizations insist on fomenting gender divisiveness. To them, elevating women to victim status is actually the paramount goal, let us be honest. To them, "rape" is a concept much bigger than a crime; it represents purported historical female oppression and supposed white male privilege. In order to wrap women in the garb of victimhood, they feel it is necessary to hold "women" to zero responsibility for stopping rape. Women can drink to excess while engaging in sex play with men they barely know, and when they are raped, the mere suggestion that they should rethink such behavior is branded "VICTIM BLAMING!"

Men as a class, on the other hand, are held solely accountable for the violence to "women" as a class -- and we are told how women justifiably fear all men. Men as a class, they insist, are responsible for the supposed "rape culture," which, to them, is responsible for rape, and they seek to shame innocent men for all manner of alleged sins against women that are, by any reasonable measure, not rape -- leering, degrading speech, sexism of every kind, and other misconduct. You want to talk about those things? Fine. But don't insist they are in any sense comparable to rape or that they lead to rape. Studies show, for example, that the use of porn correlates with a reduction in rape. So what does that mean? If these organizations wanted to reduce rape, they'd be handing out Playboy Magazines to men on campus (and no, I don't condone porn, for other reasons -- but please don't tell me it has anything to do with rape).

You want to end rape? Let's get it straight: men, as a class, can't stop rape. Rapists can stop rape. There is no rape continuum in the real world outside of Womyn's Studies classes. There is rape, and there is non-rape. To suggest that men, the vast majority of whom are not rapists, thank you very much, have any greater responsibility to prevent rape than innocent women is absurdly sexist and seeks to hold males, as a class, responsible for the crimes that only a tiny percentage of men commit (and, yes, even some women rape, too). The fact of the matter is that women can prevent rape a hell of a lot easier than innocent men by taking steps to avoid putting themselves in danger with the rapists; especially: stop engaging in sex play with guys they don't know well while they're drinking. That would eliminate most of it.

I know, I know -- to the rape feminists, that is not a viable solution. You see, it's much easier to blame an entire gender for the malefactions of a few and to suggest that maleness is inherently evil and needs to be changed than it is to actually take steps to reduce rape.

And some people wonder why young men are staying away from college in droves!

To the persons responsible for this flyer, that circulated on a U.S. college campus several months ago, thanks for the unfair stereotyping. If this were directed at any other class except for men, we'd have a word for it: bigotry. For example, what would be the reaction to a flyer that said, "Want to stop theft on campus? Hispanics can stop theft! Hispanics: STOP stealing!!!!"

But prejudice and hatred have no application to men on our gender-politicized college campuses. White college boys are the feminists' piñatas, fair game to be beaten for sport.
The organizations that sponsor these posters ostensibly want to engage men in positive ways, but generally, ill-conceived efforts like this are nothing more than manifestations of a pervasive movement to institutionalize women as unassailable victims and men as condemnable perps.

Posters like this never stopped a single rape, because rapists aren't shamed by things like this.